"The Scottish and UK governments are locked in dispute over who should pay for Donald Trump and JD Vance's recent visits to Scotland. The US president spent four days visiting his golf courses in Ayrshire and Aberdeenshire in July. BBC Scotland News understands the Scottish government has called for around 20m in policing and security costs to be refunded by the Treasury. But UK ministers are insisting that this was a private visit, and therefore the Scottish government has to cover the bill."
"A spokesperson said both the president and vice president's visits this summer were not connected to "official UK government business" and therefore "the Scottish government is responsible for policing costs". The UK government maintains it will only cover costs when a visit comes in the wake of a formal invitation that it has issued. There was an official invitation in 2018, but not in 2025. And therefore UK ministers have no plans to reimburse the Scottish government."
The Scottish government has requested around 20m from the UK Treasury to cover policing and security costs for the US president's four-day July visit to his Ayrshire and Aberdeenshire golf courses. Scotland's finance secretary, Shona Robison, is also seeking 6m to recoup policing costs for Vice-President JD Vance's August holiday in Ayrshire. Robison cites a 2018 precedent in which UK ministers covered policing costs and calls the visit diplomatically significant. The UK government rejects liability, saying both visits were private and that it only reimburses costs after issuing a formal invitation. Scottish ministers warn non‑reimbursement would strain devolved budgets.
Read at www.bbc.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]